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anyone had much experience growing these ?
I came across a bunch{125} plants a few days ago and had the room so they're in the ground and I was thinking in terms of growing regular hot jalapenos ,banana peppers and discovered some of these slow growing monster reach 6 ft tall and 3 ft or more in width . what do these things like or dislike ?
They do get much bigger and wider than jalapenos and banana peppers. These plants are mostly c. chinense, with a little (~20%) c. frutescens genes.
Jalapenos and banana peppers are c. annuums which stay fairly small and grow mostly vertically. C. chinense plants (such as habaneros) are much bushier and need more spacing, naga morich in particular can get really big. I've had some get as big as 5' x 5'. So don't use the same spacing that you would with jalapenos or banana peppers, I would space them a minimum of 3' apart.
For example:
While a jalapeno plant usually looks more like this:
These plants like more or less what other peppers like; full sun, soil that drains well, lots organic matter/compost, nighttime temperatures that aren't too cold, consistent watering, and mulch to keep the soil from heating up too much and to provide more even moisture levels for the roots. They're more susceptible to high fertilizer salt levels than most peppers though (which are more susceptible than most plants already). You have to be careful to not use too much chemical fertilizer particularly when they're small. Personally, I would recommend just using fish emulsion and/or compost.
Depending on which variety of "ghost pepper" they are, they can grow very slowly and be very late season plants. Bhut jolokias take a lot longer than most peppers to get to maturity, about 120 days. Naga Morich mature more quickly, and are a lot more productive, they take about 90 days. Bih jolokia are similar to Naga Morich but with smaller fruit.
Last edited by EugeneOnegin; 06-14-2013 at 08:57 AM..
Also, caveat emptor. There are still a lot of places selling fake "ghost peppers" that are actually Caribbean red habaneros. My mom just bought one recently from a local nursery and from looking at the leaves I'm 100% sure it's not a bhut jolokia and about 95% sure it's not a naga morich.
Regular c. chinense plants usually have big fat/wide leaves with smooth margins (orange habaneros being an exception, having skinnier leaves that look like c. annuum leaves). Bhuts/nagas have more narrow leaves with serrated/jagged edges and are more spindly.
Also, caveat emptor. There are still a lot of places selling fake "ghost peppers" that are actually Caribbean red habaneros. My mom just bought one recently from a local nursery and from looking at the leaves I'm 100% sure it's not a bhut jolokia and about 95% sure it's not a naga morich.
Regular c. chinense plants usually have big fat/wide leaves with smooth margins (orange habaneros being an exception, having skinnier leaves that look like c. annuum leaves). Bhuts/nagas have more narrow leaves with serrated/jagged edges and are more spindly.
I have seeds that I brought from living in Costa Rica for several yrs that I assume are Caribbean peppers or at least they look like it.
I just got some ghost pepper seeds from a local, very reputable source, Nichol's Garden Nursery. This type of pepper came from the area where I was born, Assam.
I was trying to germinate them like some other seeds I'm starting, and then looked at Nichols' info on them just now, which says they need 80-90 degrees soil temp to germinate. I've had mine in damp soil for about a week, but much cooler than that. No sign of sprouts so far.
I put the little starter containers in a warmer place now. I hope they get going.
I just got some ghost pepper seeds from a local, very reputable source, Nichol's Garden Nursery. This type of pepper came from the area where I was born, Assam.
I was trying to germinate them like some other seeds I'm starting, and then looked at Nichols' info on them just now, which says they need 80-90 degrees soil temp to germinate. I've had mine in damp soil for about a week, but much cooler than that. No sign of sprouts so far.
I put the little starter containers in a warmer place now. I hope they get going.
it takes a long time to germinate my friend, I still had a great crop from 125 plants I put out the 15th of June last yr.
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125} plants a few days ago and had the room so they're in the ground and I was thinking in terms of growing regular hot jalapenos ,banana peppers and discovered some of these slow growing monster reach 6 ft tall and 3 ft or more in width . what do these things like or dislike ? 
